Category Archives: Bread & Savory Baked Goods

Hello everyone!

Today I have something for you, that I have never made or even tried before then:

CORN MUFFINS!

I saw corn muffins or bread on different blogs and it always looked so yummy with it’s light brown top and golden color! I know that they are/it is often eaten with chillis or other warm comfort dishes, so I needed to try!

With what do YOU like to eat your corn muffins or corn bread?

These ones of course have a special little twist. They have shredded zucchini in them, which makes them a little healthier!

Since my mum forgot to pick a zucchini in our little backyard it grew quite big – like REALLY big. I haven’t seen one this big before!! It was like a baseball bat, but about three times as thick!!

I didn’t have my camera on hand (big mistake 😉 ) so I don’t have a picture, but please just believe me when I tell you – this thing was enormous!!

I googled and searched all my sources to find recipes to use up my zucchini monster. And this is one of the recipes that has made it to the final list! (which means, there will be more! *wink* 😉 )

Fold in zucchini, corn and cheese and divide the batter evenly between the 12 molds.

Bake for 15-20 minutes in the oven until the tops are golden and a skewer inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for 5 minutes then remove them from the pan and serve.

Welcome to the second day of the Around the World series featuring Ireland!

In Ireland most of the agriculture is based on livestock farming, especially dairy farming. Irish dairy products such as Kerrygold Butter or cheese are greatly advertised and known internationally! As the most parts of the rural areas are grasslands, especially keeping milkcows is a good business and the milk and products of those fresh herb and grass fed animals are known for their great taste.

Another product the Irish diet is based upon are potatoes, which came to the island in the second half of the 16th century. A story says, that the people in Ireland were poor and did not have much to eat during that time but they didn’t trust the new plant and wouldn’t eat from it or eat the leaves, which are poisonous. So what the governers did was plant fields of potatoes but protect them with many guards from thiefs. Now the residents thought the plant was incredible precious and stole the plants anyway and planted their own fields. This helped the potato to become a very important ingredient of the Irish diet in a short time! But unfortunately it lead also to the big famine of the years past 1845 because of crop failures of the potato and many people died.

I guess because in history the people of Ireland where poor people which always had to be creative to get enough to eat on the table, the most popular dishes often are rich breads, hearty stews and soups and seafood meals. This means that there is no particular culture of serving appetizers, salads and extravagant desserts! But the food scenery in Ireland got very internationally inspired during the last years. Especially the italian cuisine is very popular!

But one thing you can find in almost any cuisine and this is some kind of snack or fast food, because sometimes there is just the need for a quick and easy meal.

The most popular Irish snack or fast food are sandwiches. You can get them everywhere – in supermarkets, at airports, bus and train stations or in pubs. It is one of the most traditional things served in pubs! And in pubs is where I recommend you to try them when you are visiting the island! There is nothing compared to a fresh sandwich, prepared in front of your eyes with whatever filling you wish and served with a generous handful of crisps at the side!

I used to only know the sandwiches that are kept in plastic package and can be bought at supermarkets for example and they are usually really dry and boring. So it took me some time until an Irish friend took me to a pub and invited me to a sandwich, and now I don’t want to miss it on any of my trips! Also if you look for it you will find several Deli stands, even in supermarkets, that also prepare the sandwiches right there when you order them. It’s such a huge difference!!

The recipe I have for you today is the one for a sandwich with my favorite filling: Egg Salad. Even better, if it’s accompanied by some salad leaves, cheese and fresh slices of tomato! Yummmm!!

First prepare the egg salad by peeling and chopping the eggs in chunks that are not too small. Add yoghurt, mayonnaise, parsley, limejuice, pepper and salt to the mix and stir. Taste if the mix needs more of anything! Eggs can use quite a bit of salt, so keep that in mind.

Lay two slices of the bread in front of you and spread the eggsalad on them. Add the cheese, salad and tomato slices on top and cover with another slice of bread. Cut diagonally into 4 pieces and arrange them on nice plates.

Hey there!!

Well, I got the chance to visit this country for two months in the summer of last year. I went there through a partnership of my university in Germany with the Ege-University of Izmir for an internship in the milk technology departement. I didn’t expect much as the turkish people living in Germany often keep very much to themselves and their culture kind of stayed a mystery to me. But boy was I wrong!

The people were so open and friendly – it was amazing!! Even if it was hard to communicate with some because they didn’t really speek English or German and my Turkish was well, let’s say, just not existing 😉 We got along so well using our hands to gesticulate and some google-translate for more difficult things!! The people were very hospitable and obliging and the boys real gentleman! I felt at home right away and made many great friends!!

Also I found a family there which adopted me, at least figuratively speeking 🙂 It is the family of my neighbour who died unfortunatly and very sudden two years ago. His wife went back to Turkey to stay with their son and daughter and their grandchildren who are already in their late teens. I last saw them all when I was little, they didn’t come to Germany often to visit because most of the time my neighbour and wife went to Turkey and spend some weeks each year there. So when he died everything was really quick. They gave up the house and moved back to Turkey in just like two weeks or something – a time in which I couldn’t come to my parents house to say goodbye. I had to stay and go to university. So when I found out they actually lived near Izmir and I could probably see them during my stay I got really excited!!

And then I finally met them and it was like coming home to your family. Everybody was kissing and hugging and I was instantly adopted as a family member! They called me their daughter, cousin and sister and it was how I felt too!! This sounds all very emotional – but it is how I felt!!

I stayed at their house, was invited to their cram-ful tables for breakfast and dinner, I was cooking with them Turkish food and I even cooked a German dish for them at the last evening as a thank you. I guess I got some first-hand experience there 😉

It was awesome!! I miss them all very much!!

But now let’s go on to the food part! There has to be something to tell for the next days too 😉

Today is Monday, so we will have a little talk about appetizers in Turkish Cuisine. Small plates with different dishes to snack on have a long tradition in Turkey. They even have a special name for it: Meze! It is kind of like the Tapas of Turkey 🙂 You can get them in nearly every restaurant, and in the better ones you even get some for free. It can be things like a salad, bread, a joghurt dip or different spreads – it’s all possible.

What I have here for you is Sigara Böreği, a savoury snack in the form of thin rolls. They taste a little bit salty and very crispy – once you start eating you can never stop 😉 They are really delicious and probably gone faster than anything else on a buffet!!

Here is a little picture to help you visualize what the dough sheets look like and what to do with them 🙂

Have you been to Turkey yourself? Have you tried or even cooked Turkish food? What were your experiences?

Prepare the filling first by squishing the feta cheese or beyaz peynir as finely as you can. Mix with parsley and set aside.

Arrange your workspace: Put a clean and slightly wet towel on your surface. You need a bowl with water, your filling, the yufka sheets and a clean plate in arms length!

Now you can start rolling your Sigara Böreği: Place one sheet of yufka on your towel, the wide side facing towards you. Sprinkle with water, especially the sides that will be folded in!

Take some of your filling (about 1 tablespoon) and distribute in a line near the end of the round side of the triangular. Fold the sides in and roll your Sigara Böreği up! Tip the pointy end of your yufka into your bowl with water and close the roll. Set aside on your plate and continue until all the yufka sheets are used up!

Heat the oil in a wide pan. You need about 1 cm of oil in your pan. Use a wooden spoon to test if the oil is already hot enough. There will be bubbles forming on the spoon when you put a corner of it into the oil. When the oil is hot enough put some Sigara Böreği in. They have to be in one layer and you need a little bit of space to turn them. Turn them once after the bottom side is golden and lay them on a paper towel to drain excess oil when you take them out.

Enjoy preferably with some salad or çaçik!

Notes

I have tried to make them with less oil already but the results were always a disaster! The dough was still raw inside and the outside was burned and it never got crispy and flakey.

Hello everybody!!

Sorry it took me so long to get back writing on my blog. There was so much on my plate the last 3 weeks or so… But more about that in my brandnew post later today.

Right now I want to tell you about my very first guest post!! Carrie from Chicago Foodie Sisters asked on her Facebook page if someone would be willing to share a recipe and a bit about themselves on her website. And I said yes!

I liked them so very much – they were the perfect snack through any time of the day, be it breakfast, afternoon or the middle of the night! As I knew they wouldn’t be eaten all at once I froze most of them and they were even better after thawing!! I just left them at room temperature until they weren’t frozen anymore and enjoyed them 🙂

Also I tried myself on a little bit of ‘food decorating’ for this shoot – how do you like the pictures?

A perfect and delicious little snack, which keeps well and is ideal to put in lunchboxes or take on picnics!

Author: Kathrin @ ginger, lemon & spice

Recipe type: Savory

Serves: 12

Ingredients

2 eggs

80ml (1/3 cup) oil (rapeseed or sunflower)

300ml (1¼ cup) buttermilk

300g (2½ cups) flour (I used half white/whole wheat)

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

100g corn* (canned or frozen)

100g zucchini*, finely grated

100g chopped walnuts*

150g feta* in small cubes

Instructions

Grease a muffin tin and put in muffin paper cups if you want. Preheat oven to 180°C (350 °F).

In a bowl mix eggs, oil and buttermilk well. Add flour, salt and baking powder on top and distribute the dry ingredients a little with a spoon. Then mix wet and dry ingredients slowly until just incorporated.

Add corn, zucchini and walnuts. Then fold in feta carefully with a tablespoon.

You can use the spoon now to transfer the batter into the muffin cups! You can make the cups pretty full, at least in my case the muffins just rose but did not spill and sank back when cooling!

Bake the muffins for 25-30 minutes. Check with a wooden skewer!

Enjoy!! 🙂

Notes

* I am sorry I can't tell how much of those ingredients you need in cups. Corn, walnuts and feta it is approximately 1 big handful of each and zucchini about ¾ of a smaller one.

Happy St. Paddy’s Day to all of you!!

That is what I am saying to those people that ask me if I’m Irish because of my naturally red hair, my name, or the west cork accent I get when I spend more then 2 days in Ireland.

I am Irish by heart.

I have stopped counting on how many times I have been on the green isle yet. It must be around 15… My very first time was in 2000 with the band of the music club of my hometown. It was kind of part of an official visit with our town being twinned to a town in south Ireland. We were a big group and we were so very welcomed by the people living in our twincity. We ate together, we drank together and we did a lot of celebration. I was only 11 years old when I went to Ireland for the very first time, but I left a piece of my heart there which made me come back again and again…

I am Irish by heart.

I love flying. I really do! But when the plane breaks through the foggy clouds and I spot the green rectangle gras fields with the borders of stone walls, it takes my breath away. And when the luck is with me I can see thick sunrays breaking through the clouds highlighting spots on the ground so that it looks like the leprechauns want to show me where they hide their pots of gold… I get emotional, I have butterflies in my tummy and it just feels sooo right…

IT FEELS LIKE COMING HOME…

I am Irish by heart!

I have ‘my Irish family’ over there who take me in and take such good care for me all the times I need a place to stay or even if I don’t – they will pick me up from the hostel and invite me to their home. I am so very glad to have met them!! We have spent so many hours having a pint in the pub, talking about our lives, having good homemade food and of course having a cup of tea at all kinds of times, even late at nights when we just got home from being out in town. Thank you so much for being there, opening up your hearts and home and make me part of you family!

Also the two girls and two boys that spent time at our house in Germany, they are my irish brothers and sisters. I am wondering how they are and what they are doing and it is always nice to see each other again!

All the friends I found in Ireland… I am so happy to have met all of you!! And I am soo glad to be back and meet you all again in august!!

I am Irish by heart.

I am struggeling to verbalize my feelings for this country that is so much more for me. I hope you get an impression of what I mean when I truelly say from the heart: I AM IRISH, at least by heart 😉

So I am bringing you one of my all time favourite irish foods for you: Brown Soda Bread. Every Irish mum knows how to make it, and so does mine too. I am also always buying some to take home! But since it isn’t a very difficult recipe at all I also make it at home from time to time. Because it is mostly whole grain wheat flour you use it is also healthy too! Try it yourself!!

Irish Brown Soda Bread

Ingredients:

3 cups coarse whole grain wheat flour

1 cup normal white wheat flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 3/4 cups buttermilk

50g soft butter or margarine (about 2 tablespoons)

1 egg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180° C. Line one tray with baking parchment.

2. Put all the ingredients in your bowl. Mix gently (I used a handheld electric mixer with dough hook) but don’t overmix! The dough will be very soft.

3. Put the dough in the middle of your tray with the help of a rubber spatula. Make the spatula wet and form your dough into a round or oval. Dust with flour or oats. For the traditional look use a wet knife to cut a cross about 1 cm deep into the dough.

4. Put the tray into the oven. The bread is ready after 50 min.

5. If you want the shell soft like you get the bread in Ireland you just put the hot bread into a wet hand towel until it is cool or better overnight.

6. Enjoy!! The bread tastes best toasted with butter or whipped cream and jam. But also try it with Irish cheese or smoked salmon!

Note: Irish brown soda bread usually has a nutty taste that comes from the coarse whole grain flour. In Germany you can’t get the right kind (usually all whole grain flours are milled very finely) so you have to ask to get your flour milled more coarsly. Toasting brings out the nuttyness even more!

Hey everybody!!

The new year hast just started and the New Year’s resolutions are still very much in my mind, so I thought i use the flow and give you some quick words and a new recipe.

How has the new year been so far for you? I slept in very long yesterday, and then spent the whole evening with my family at my grandparents’ to give them all their good wishes!

In Germany it is tradition that all the kids get very big soft prezels (not the Oktoberfest-kind, but sweet ones) from their godparents and money from their relatives. Also, if you want to make sure, that you won’t be out of money anytime in the new year, you will eat Sauerkraut on the new years day. That’s what my parents and I did yesterday!!

Do you have any New-Years’ traditions?

So let’s come to the recipe. Another great snack to bring to any kind of party or friends house!! It uses apples and onions which are a great combination especially in autumn and this time of year. We still have apples from our own trees in our garage waiting to be used!

1. Dissolve the yeast in the water. Then put all the ingredients for the dough together and knead until it is a nice dough.

2. For the filling peel onions and apples. Cut speck, onions and apples into small cubes and roast gently in a pan. Season to taste with salt, pepper and majoran. Take care with the salt, as the speck usually is quite salty on its own!

3. Halve the dough and coast one into a rectangle shape (about 20×30 cm wide). Sprinkle half the onion-apple mix and half the cheese on top. Roll the dough up starting from on of the smaller sides and cut pieces from 1-2 cm from it. But it on baking paper on a sheet and repeat with the other half of the dough.

4. Whisk the egg yolk with a bit of water and coat the swirls with it.